One type of conventional lift truck employs a lift system including a cylinder and a pair of chains mounted centrally of a mast assembly thereof. Such disposition of the cylinder and chains tends to impair the forward visibility of the truck's operator. Various solutions have been proposed to solve this problem, such as by positioning a lift chain directly behind the cylinder and/or by displacing the cylinder laterally and adjacent to an upright channel of the fixed upright of the mast assembly.
Prior art solutions of the latter type have not fully solved the visibility problem and in many designs tend to increase the overall complexity and number of component parts employed in the mast assembly. In addition, such designs give rise to load balancing and sequencing problems and do not afford the desired protection to operating components thereof.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.